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“I have reluctantly concluded that any possible confirmation process for me would be acrimonious and would not serve the interest of the Federal Reserve, the Administration or, ultimately, the interests of the nation’s ongoing economic recovery,” Summers wrote in a letter to President Obama, Wessel (WSJ) writes.

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IOW, he saw a great deal of bipartisan opposition and more than 200 economists who opposed his candidacy.

WASHINGTON— Lawrence Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary, called President Barack Obama Sunday to say he is pulling out of the contest to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

“I have reluctantly concluded that any possible confirmation process for me would be acrimonious and would not serve the interest of the Federal Reserve, the Administration or, ultimately, the interests of the nation’s ongoing economic recovery,” Mr. Summers said in a letter to the president that followed the telephone call.

The move forces Mr. Obama to look to other potential candidates for the Fed job including Janet Yellen, the Fed’s vice chairwoman; Donald Kohn, a former vice chairman; and former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Mr. Obama has said that he interviewed the first two. Mr. Geithner has said he isn’t interested.
In a statement, Mr. Obama said he accepted Mr. Summers’s decision. He described him as “a critical member of my team as we faced down the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and it was in no small part because of his expertise, wisdom, and leadership that we wrestled the economy back to growth and made the kind of progress we are seeing today.”

Mr. Summers, who was chairman of Mr. Obama’s National Economic Council early in his presidency, had been widely believed to be the president’s first choice for the Fed job, but opposition from liberals and women’s groups—and, importantly, from some Senate Banking Committee Democrats—has been mounting.
For them, Mr. Summers became a symbol—a caricature, his admirers say—of all the failures of financial regulation that they said led to the devastating financial crisis.

In the past few weeks, the president has faced mounting attacks from his left flank on National Security Agency surveillance and on his decision to attack Syria—and that complicated the possible nomination of Mr. Summers.

“He was very clearly the president’s choice,” a former top administration official said. “After all the problems they had with the base, a big confirmation battle looked like a bridge to far.

“The biggest chunk of the problem was Syria and leaving him out there that long,” the former official added. “You just can’t do that.”

Mr. Bernanke’s second term is up Jan. 31, and he has signaled he doesn’t want a third one.
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In a statement, Mr. Obama said he accepted Mr. Summers’s decision. He described him as “a critical member of my team as we faced down the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and it was in no small part because of his expertise, wisdom, and leadership that we wrestled the economy back to growth and made the kind of progress we are seeing today.”

His having “no small part” in wrestling the economy back to “the kind of progress we are seeing today” would of course automatically disqualify him for the position anywhere other than Obama World.

He was the best possible leftist for the job. Given that there is exactly a 0.0000% chance of Obama nominating anyone rightward of Summers, whoever we get now–presumably Yellen, since her ladybits make her candidacy impossible to oppose–is guaranteed to be worse. So to all the right-side critics who donated their credibility to provide a fig-leaf of bipartisanship to the overwhelmingly left-wing criticism of Summers, good work! Way to boost the cause.

(Reuters) – Lawrence Summers, a former top economic aide to President Barack Obama and a Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, has withdrawn from consideration to succeed Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

“I have reluctantly concluded

that any possible confirmation process for me would be acrimonious and would not serve the interest of the Federal Reserve, the administration or, ultimately, the interests of the nation’s ongoing economic recovery,

” Summers said in a letter to Obama that followed a phone call to the president, the newspaper reported.
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‘ Larry was a critical member of my team as we faced down the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and it was in no small part because of his expertise, wisdom, and leadership that we wrestled the economy back to growth and made the kind of progress we are seeing today’ – US President Barack Obama statement on Lawrence Summers via @NBCNews

My guess is Richard Cordray. He managed to lose millions of OH taxpayers’ dollars as Ohio’s State Treasurer (literally- he simply could not figure out where it all went), and then as State AG he “could find no evidence of incompetence or wrongdoing” when tasked by then-Governor Strickland (D) to investigate… his own performance as Treasurer.

And since Dickie is already in the Administration (running the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, more accurately the Consumer Financial Nibsh!tting Agency), it’s entirely possible that The One might give him a “lateral promotion”- and then claim with a straight face that since it’s “just a transfer”, he does not need to be confirmed by the Senate. (Remember how The One brought him on board to begin with.)

Failing that, another possibility is Cass Sunstein. While not technically a financial whiz, he’s a (supposed) polymath like The One- and of course The One can trust Sunstein not to second-guess him.

If even that won’t pass the smell test with the Senate… well, there’s always Paul Krugman. If The One can tear him away from romancing China and dreaming of invading Martians, that is.

I suppose he could have Biden go talk to him about it. They could sing a duet about the Universe in Joe’s Underoos.

(Reuters) – U.S. stock futures advanced and futures for the U.S. Treasury 10-year note gained late Sunday

after Lawrence Summers withdrew

his candidacy for chairman of the Federal Reserve, as investors bet his exit could mean a slower tapering of monetary stimulus by the U.S. central bank.

S&P Index equities futures opened higher and gained more than 1 percent as of 6:23 p.m. (2223 GMT). Futures for the 10-year Treasury bond gained more than 1 point, or nearly 1 percent, indicating that benchmark Treasury yields would fall.

Of the two leading candidates for the Fed chairmanship, Summers was widely regarded as more eager to taper the Fed’s $85 million a month bond-buying program. Janet Yellen, the Fed’s current vice chair and the other leading candidate, has been more widely perceived by investors as favoring a more gradual easing of stimulus.
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